''Artstar'' is an unscripted reality television series set in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

art world, considered to be the first in the visual arts. Selected from an open call of over 400 applicants, eight artists participate in a group exhibition at

Deitch Projects Jeffrey Deitch (pronounced ''DIE-tch'';Mike Boehm (January 12, 2010)''Los Angeles Times''. born July 9, 1952) is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects (1996–2010) and curating groundbreaking exhi ...

with the opportunity for a solo exhibition as well. The program documents the selected artists as they interact with leading critics, curators, collectors, and artists in New York, while making new works as part of the collaborative exhibition.

Featured guest critics and artists

Critics/curators featured on the program include Barbara Pollack, Debra Singer, David Rimanelli, Carlo McCormick, RoseLee Goldberg, Cary Leitzes,

Alan Vega Alan Bermowitz (June 23, 1938–July 16, 2016), known professionally as Alan Vega, was an American vocalist and visual artist, primarily known for his work with the electronic proto-punk duo Suicide. Life and career Alan Bermowitz was raise ...

, Yvonne Force, James Fuentes and Mark Fletcher. Established artists interacting with the selected emerging artists include

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish s ...

Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) leaving Freddie to raise the couple's six children on her own. 3/sup> Wiley has said that his family survived on welfare checks and the limited income earned by his mother's "thrift store"—which consiste ...

Jon Kessler Jon Kessler (born 1957, Yonkers) is an American artist. He began college at SUNY Purchase from 1974 to 1978 but left after two years to travel in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. He returned to Purchase in 1978 and graduated in 1980 with hon ...

, Lee Quiñones and Steve Powers.

Exhibition

In the second episode of the series, the Artstars were asked to participate in The Art Parade, a Deitch Projects event where artists, performers and designers were invited to create floats, placards, spectacles and street performances. The Artstars were less than enthusiastic about the prospect (Abigail Deville is quoted in ''The New York Times'' on May 28, 2006 as saying, "I mean, come on, a parade?"). Christian Dietkus, one of the other artists, confronted

Jeffrey Deitch Jeffrey Deitch (pronounced ''DIE-tch'';Mike Boehm (January 12, 2010)''Los Angeles Times''. born July 9, 1952) is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects (1996–2010) and curating groundbreaking exhib ...

about whether or not an actual Artstar exhibition would also be part of the television program, as originally promised. Deitch was vague about specifics at the time but promised that there would be a gallery show at some point. On February 9, 2006, Deitch Projects opened the Artstar exhibition to the public, showcasing the culminating product of the Artstars' individual efforts during the program. Anney Fresh created a giant polar bear with its head stuck in a crate. Visitors could comb the bear's hair and look into the crate to see the bear's dreams. Virgil Wong exhibited
twenty foot tall mural
depicting a walking figure composed of both paint and digital 3-D video projections. Visitors to the gallery could inject medical nanotechnology into the body using a video game controller, and a pool of moving MRI brain images reflected in a Zen-like garden.

Biographies of the Artstars

Virgil Wong is an NEA grant recipient and a multimedia artist who creates installations, films, and paintings that visualize future medical technologies. Virgil received his fine arts degree in 2005 in illustration from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

(RISD). Virgil earned a master's degree from Danube University in Austria and continued studies towards a doctorate degree from Teachers College. Columbia University. He started a company, ''Medical Avatar'', creating medical visualizing tools for the healthcare industry. Bec Stupak is an artist living and working in New York City, and is also the founding member of ''Honeygun Labs'', an experimental video project that after a few years blossomed into a collaborative effort that at any given time had several people creating and experimenting with different styles and techniques. Anney Fresh (Anney McKilligan) is an "Action Stylist" who has created enormous inflatables and other public art works with an artists collective called the Madagascar Institute. She is also a professional puppeteer and builder who has worked on Sesame Street, Johnny and The Sprites, ''Blue's Clues'', ''Chappelle's Show'', ''The Book of Pooh'', and ''Bear in the Big Blue House''. In 2007, Anney received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling, after three previous nominations for the same award. A regular at the

Loser's Lounge The Loser's Lounge is an ongoing tribute project in New York City which performs music by songwriters and bands like Queen, Neil Diamond, Paul Williams, Elvis Costello, Serge Gainsbourg, The Beach Boys, Lee Hazlewood, Paul McCartney, XTC, and David ...

, Anney can be seen singing on stage at Joe's Pub.

Zackary Drucker Zackary Drucker (born 1983) is an American multimedia artist, cultural producer, LGBT social movements, LGBT activist, actress, and television producer. She is an Emmy Awards, Emmy-nominated producer for the docu-series ''This Is Me'' (2015), a co ...

is a fine art photographer. A recent graduate from the School of Visual Arts, Zackary is now studying at the California Institute of the Arts (started the Fall of 2005), where she is pursuing an MFA degree in Photography and Media. Past group exhibitions include One Man Show, an exhibition curated by Isabelle Woodley in Cooper Union's Great Hall Gallery, and Mentors, at the Visual Arts Gallery. Gigi Chen was born in China and raised in New York, where she attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia high school, and studied fine arts techniques. From there, she went on to the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

, majoring in Traditional Animation. Gigi sold her first piece during the Artstar show. Sy Colen is a retired social worker from Brownsville, New York, who creates wood and clay sculptures. Sy is the father of

Dan Colen Daniel Colen (born 1979) is an American artist based in New York. His work consists of painted sculptures appropriating low-cultural ephemera, graffiti-inspired paintings of text executed in paint, and installations. Early life and education Bor ...

, a painter and sculptor whose work was included in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. Christian Dietkus graduated from

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

in 2005, and received his M.F.A. in 2013 from Columbia University. Abigail DeVille graduated with a B.F.A. from

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college under the State University of New York, in New York City. It focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It was founded in ...

(FIT) in 2007. Followed by receiving a 2011 M.F.A. graduate degree in painting at

Yale School of Art The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Master of Fine Arts, Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in g ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Abigail is also the first Artstar artist to sell her work on the television show.

Screenings and broadcasts

The pilot episode of Artstar was privately screened during the Cannes Film Festival in 2005. The first public screening was held at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City on May 12, 2006 at 8pm. Artstar premiered on Gallery HD on June 1, 2006 at 9pm. * ''Episode 1'' (June 1, 2006) - 400 artists appear on the coldest day of the year for an open call at Deitch Projects to compete for 8 spots on the program. * ''Episode 2'' (June 8, 2006) - The Artstars move into a huge studio space in Tribeca and must collaborate on a project for The Art Parade. * ''Episode 3'' (June 15, 2006) - The Artstars host a party at the

Soho Grand Hotel The Soho Grand Hotel is a hotel located at 310 West Broadway between Grand and Canal Streets in the SoHo neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City at the former location of Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori. It has 353 guest rooms, including ...

rooftop penthouse and produce installations and performances. * ''Episode 4'' (June 22, 2006) - The Artstars are sent to Coney Island to paint signs with Artist Steve Powers. * ''Episode 5'' (June 29, 2006) - The Artstars are critiqued by art consultants and collectors Yvonne Force and Mark Fletcher—and decide on a project for The Art Parade. * ''Episode 6'' (July 5, 2006) - The Artstars work with graffiti artist Lee Quiñones and also visit the studios of artists

, Marc Kessler, and

. * ''Episode 7'' (July 12, 2006) - The Artstars collaborate on their project for The Art Parade and hold their open studio exhibition. * ''Episode 8'' (July 19, 2006) - The Art Parade launches into the streets of SoHo. The Artstar group exhibition opens at Deitch Projects.

Criticism

Early episodes of Artstar have been criticized for being extended infomercials for Deitch Projects. Like

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

The Apprentice An apprentice is someone who is in training for a trade, profession. The Apprentice or Apprentice may also refer to: Television * ''The Apprentice'' (American TV series), the original reality television series * ''The Apprentice'' (franchise), ...

, art dealer

is described in glowingly positive terms, by other dealers and artists in this case, and there are constant references to the "exciting" work that happens in his gallery. Also, Deitch was quoted as saying, While some observers have appreciated the show's avoidance of reality television cliches like eliminating contestants each week and salacious personal dramas, others contend that Artstar should have been billed instead (and produced) as an art documentary. Some have also noted that many contestants already had previous ties to Deitch Projects, making the show more scripted than it had been advertised. (For example, Sy Colen is the father of a successful artist represented by the gallery, and Bec Stupak appeared multiple times in Deitch's 2005 book ''Live Through This'')

References

News articles

"Art world Idol", ''TimeOut New York'', May 11, 2006

"Stroke of genius? Artists to mix it up on reality TV", ''Chicago Tribune''

"Reality Show Artstar to begin on the Dish Network", ''Art Daily''

2000s American reality television series Television shows set in New York City 2006 American television series debuts 2006 American television series endings